Mergers, Acquisitions and Funding Round-up this week: May 27 to June 1

The past week saw the Indian start-ups cumulatively raising $217.84 Mn via 31 deals which amounts to a 27% increase from last week's $58.36 Mn raised across 16 deals. After a long time with the Fintech sector to be the topmost for funding, the e-commerce sector emerged as the investors' favourite this week. The start-ups in this sector have bagged $56.2 Mn across five deals. Along with that, Venture Catalysts was the most active investor this week, which backed four star-ups in total. So, let's check out some of these findings this week. 

1. Infra.Market gets $50 million from MARS Unicorn Fund

The Construction materials company Infra.Market has received an additional $50 million in funding from MARS Unicorn Fund, a joint venture of Liquidity Group and MUFG. This funding follows an initial $50-million investment in 2022 done by MARS and makes it a total of $100 million investment from the company's side. The funds are likely to be used for expanding the Infra.market’s global reach while also enhancing its offerings.

2. TechnoSport raises Rs 175 crore from A91 Partners

TechnoSport, a performance wear brand, has raised Rs. 175 crore ($21 million) from A91 Partners. This investment marks the first external fundraising for the 17-year-old company. The B2C e-commerce brand plans to enhance its manufacturing capabilities with a focus on digital brand building and marketing.

3. Euler Motors gets Rs 200 crore from Piramal Alternatives and others

Euler Motors, the electric three-wheeler maker has raised Rs. 200 crore amounting to $24 million as part of an extended funding round led by Piramal Alternatives India Access Fund, Blume Venture, and British International Investment. According to the company, the funds will be used to scale up to 40 cities in the next year along with a focus on product development and other research and development efforts. 

4. Libas raises Rs. 150 crore from ICICI Venture

The ethnic fashion brand Libas has raised Rs.150 crore from IAF Series 5, a fund managed by ICICI Venture. The brand founded by Sidhant Keshwani and Sunil Keshwani will be using the funds for the expansion of its stores and the technology.

5. Zypp Electric raises $15 million from multiple investors 

EV startup Zypp Electric has raised $15 million from Japanese major ENEOS, which forms a part of its ongoing $50 million round, split into $40 million equity and $10 million debt. The company announced that existing investors 9Unicorns, IAN Fund, Venture Catalysts, WFC, and others were also part of its Series C funding round.

Acquisitions this week

• Times Network, the Broadcasting giant has bought the technology media portal Digit.in from 9.9 Group through an undisclosed amount. The company is looking to work on its digital publishing capabilities.
• Fintech startup BharatX has acquired healthcare startup Zenifi. As a part of the collaboration, Zenifi co-founder Padam Kataria will join BharatX to lead its healthcare vertical. 
• Honasa Consumer Ltd., the parent company of Mamaearth has acquired the assets of Thane-based skincare company CosmoGenesis Labs for $480K (INR 4 Cr). 
• IndiaMART, a B2B marketplace has acquired a 10% stake in a fraud detection startup named Baldor Technologies for INR 89.7 Cr (about $10.7 Mn). The investment will likely uphold the long-term objective of providing various software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions for businesses.